


If the Shoe Fits

by sharlatan



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Cinderella AU, M/M, fairytale AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-19 12:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3610431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharlatan/pseuds/sharlatan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is your run of the mill Cinderella story. Jason Grace is the bastard son slash servant of the Deus household, and Nico di Angelo is the prince. They meet, sparks fly, it's every boy's dream come true. Now, if only they can meet again. Finding out each other's name would be a great bonus too. </p><p>Baby, this is what operas are made out of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If the Shoe Fits

It was a warm and sunny day. The fleece cloak had been a mistake, the delivery girl thought. She’d thought that it would be cooler, and her father had subsequently placed the cloak over her shoulders for her morning round of delivering bread.

She knocked on the servant’s entrance to the Deus mansion, expecting the scullery maid or the cook to open up. Instead, she found herself staring up at a pair of stormy blue eyes on a chiseled face.

“Good morning, Jason! I thought you didn’t handle deliveries on Wednesdays?” 

“I don’t, but Juno’s given half the staff off for the week, so I’m picking up the slack.”

“I thought that the family went out of the city for a trip yesterday, there wouldn’t be too much slack to pick up.” 

Jason smiled wryly. “That’s why half the staff was given leave for a week and I’m in charge.”

“Oh, Jason,” the girl said pityingly. “Well, you just hang in there, alright? I’ll see if I can drop by tonight with some pastries or some chocolate for you.” 

“Thanks, Silena, have a good day,” he waved a goodbye. 

It wasn’t right, she reflected as she made her rounds through the city. It wasn’t right for Duchess Juno to always pick on Jason. Although she could’ve done worse to him. Make him have a life threatening accident, for example, instead of just ordering him to work himself to the bone looking after the huge mansion with half the usual amount of staff. Still, Jason was such a nice boy that Silena found it hard to imagine how someone would want to bully him like that, even if he was born a bastard. It’s like kicking an adorable puppy.

It just wasn’t right.

* * *

Jason hummed as he made his way into the kitchen. The bread that Silena delivered wasn’t for the consumption of the people upstairs, but for the servants downstairs (the Duke and Duchess had their own bread home made). The Deus household treats their workers well in that respect, because Bakery Beauregard was the best in the city. Or maybe they just wanted to make a statement: “That bread that you regular upper class eat? We feed to the servants.”

“Piper! I got the bread!” He called out. 

“Well, what are you waiting for, Sparky? Make the sandwiches while I try to figure out the stove!” She struck a match and touched it to the contraption.

When Jason told SIlena that Juno gave half the staff off, it was a little white lie. Juno didn’t give half the staff a vacation. She gave the entire staff a vacation except for Jason and Piper. The reason Jason still accepted half the regular amount of bread from Silena was because the stove can’t be worked by anyone other than the actual kitchen personnel, and the two of them will have to subsist on sandwiches for the next seven days.

“I don’t think I can get this to work,” Piper sighed. “Maybe you can call up your fairy godfather? Leo’s pretty good at this kind of stuff, right?” 

“Pipes, I’m not calling up a magical fairy to start up a stove. Look, I’ve already made the sandwiches.” He held up hers. “I used the special cheese for yours.”

“You didn’t!” she gasped, “They’d kill us if they knew.” 

“Well, they don’t,” He smiled as Piper enthusiastically munched her breakfast.

“Your stepmother,” she said in between bites, “is such a frigid bitch.” 

“Is she?” In response to Piper’s stare, he elaborated, “Is she my stepmother, though? She’s already my father’s wife before I was born, so technically I’m the outsider.” 

“Yeah, and she could’ve let you go with Thalia and treated you like a real outsider,” Piper snorted. “Instead she holds onto you like some sort of trophy, look at me I don’t care if my husband have any affairs because I can exercise full control over his kids,” she said in a mock imitation of Juno. 

“Don’t let anyone else hear you say that,” Jason warned gravely. 

“I’ll be fine,” Piper rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I’ll take care of the mansion and you can do the heavy lifting in the yard.”

“Let me take care of the ballroom and the first floor, too.” 

“Jason, it’s gigantic.”

“So’s the rest of the mansion.” He hated seeing Piper trying to look out for him like this, he can take care of himself. “Look, it’d be a lot faster if I finish whatever I have to do in the yard and then we can work on sweeping and scrubbing together.” 

“We don’t actually have to do every room-”

“No, but we should try.” 

Piper pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes, captain.”

* * *

“I’m only 16.” 

“And by the time I was 16, I was already engaged to your father for years.” Maria di Angelo smoothed the tufts of black hair away from Nico’s face. “What I mean is that you should at least start looking for someone. Anyone. That son of Hermes, I think his name was Cecil? He’s pretty good. Or Drew, she’s a lovely and very lively girl.”

“Mooother! You’re embarrassing me!” Nico moved to shove Maria’s hand away from his head, but then thought better of it. “Unless you can find a way to break off Percy Jackson’s engagement to Annabeth Chase, then no goal.”

“I can manage that,” his father piped up. 

“ _No_ , please don’t, that was a joke!” Nico quickly said.

“Father,” he continued with a lot more respect and timidity, “I honestly don’t think that now’s the right time to be talking about this. I have a lot more to learn about governing and I’m afraid that an engagement would disturb my lessons.”

The King waved a lazy hand at his son. “Stop worrying about governance, your sister is going to take care of all that.”

“But I can help Bianca! I can be her right hand man and advise her on a lot of stuff! Did you know that with the current climate conditions, a drought is possible so we can-”

“Say no more,” the King said. 

“Does that mean that-”

“It means that in the ball in three days we’ll start looking for your fiance.” 

Nico looked frantically to his mother for help. Unfortunately, she was nodding in agreement with her husband.

“I can’t believe this!” He stormed out of the room. 

“Can’t believe what?” Hazel turned up behind him, tapping his shoulder. “What happened?”

“You are looking at a chained man, Hazel,” Nico groaned dramatically. 

“Hmmm, nope, I don’t see a man anywhere,” she said. 

“Shush. I am about to be married off like a painted jezebel.”

“I don’t think you understand what a painted jezebel is,” she said skeptically.

“I know what it is! It’s a whore, is what it is, it’s what I’m going to be!” 

“That’s not how this engagement business works, Nico.”

“Once I’m engaged, that’s it. I can’t have sex with anyone else. I’m going to be married a virgin.”

“Weren’t you complaining about being a whore?”

He sighed. “Hazel, you don’t understand.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand,” she said, “about being a virgin!” 

“What.”

She giggled, then went on her toes to kiss Nico’s cheek. “Just kidding, I’m sure everything is going to be okay.”

“No it’s not.” 

“Shush, you. Come on, let’s go to the market today.” 

* * *

It happened in an instant. Jason had to do a market run that afternoon, and that involved going through the bazaar.

A tiny dark skinned girl bumped into him in the crowded square and tripped, upending the bag of delicate trinkets that she had bought.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” Jason scrambled to help her up and pick up the items that weren’t damaged. “Let me pay for this.”

“It’s fine, it really is-”

“Hazel!” And there he was. He had freckles across the bridge of his nose and on his shoulders. His hair was a shock of unruly fluffy night, and he had a button nose and pert lips. “There you are, I thought I’d lost you, come on, let’s go.” 

He was all Jason saw in that single, electrifying second.

But the stranger never even glanced at him.

When he returned home, Piper was jumping up and down in excitement.

“Jason Jason Jason!” She grabbed his hands. “Guess what?” 

~~“Um, you figured out how to use the stove?”~~

“No! Even better!” She dragged him to a chair and sat him down. “Silena came by and dropped off some chocolates and pastries, and some great news! There’s going to be a royal ball in three days!”

“And?”

“It’s for the prince, to find his fiance!”

“And?”

“And we can go!” 

“Wait, you’re saying that there’s going to be a royal ball to find the future spouse of the prince and a maid and a manservant like you and me are allowed to go?”

“Well,” she shrugged, “the actual ball with the dancing royalty part is going to take place inside the castle. But everyone’s invited to the common celebration outside!” 

“That makes a lot more sense. Piper, you should definitely go!” Jason encouraged her.

“Oh no, you’re coming with me, pal.” 

“Piper, I can’t leave the mansion, there’s too much work here to do.” 

“When’s the last time you’ve ever really had fun? Come on, at least go with me to be my dance partner.” 

“I really can’t, Piper. ~~”~~  

Her eyes narrowed, and although Piper didn’t pursue the topic, Jason knew the argument was far from over.

The next two days, Jason tested his limit. On the one hand, he really did want to let loose and have fun for a while. On the other hand, there was so much work in the mansion that he can’t see how both he and Piper can go for a fun night out. It was only until a few hours before the ball when Piper resolutely stated that unless he went with her, she won’t go, that his resolve broke.

“You know you really want this, Pipes.”

“Not without my stick in the mud best friend.”

He sighed.

“Fine.”

“Yes! Let’s call Leo immediately!”

Jason called Leo by burning a piece of paper with the words “Team Leo” written on it. The flames burned brighter and brighter even when it seemed as if the paper was already completely consumed. The tendrils of fire curled up into the air and then burst into a column of fire. Ashes settled down, as they often do when Leo arrives, and a figure of a slight young man with elfish ears and curly hair emerged from the smoke.

“I’ve been listening in on you two. Jason bro, you’ve been holding out on me!” He fist bumped the two of them. “I wouldn’t have needed magic to get the stove working, by the way, but I can use a little of my fasizzle juice to get you guys all dressed and ready for the party.”

“You know how I feel about using magic for everything,” Jason said. 

“Whatever,” Leo waved a hand. “Anyway I can totally do clothing magic.”

He flicked his pinky, and Piper ended up in a pink monstrosity, while Jason found his lower half stuck in the tightest pair of tights ever made.

“Fashion, learned from the best.”

Piper sighed, “Look, I care about fashion as much as Jason does, but I’m not about to embarrass myself wearing this. Something discreet but stylish, please.”

Poof.

“Peacock feathers are not discreet.”

“They’re stylish, though,” said Jason. 

It took an hour before the two of them were satisfied with their costumes.

“Thanks Leo, this means a lot to me. Do you want to come with us?” Piper asked.

“Nah, I don’t do well with royalty, that family is fucking creepy.” He grinned like a manic pixie. “Sneak me some food and we’ll call it even.” 

“You betcha, Fireboy.”

“Alright, see you later, Beauty Queen and Superman,” he shooed them out. “Remember the rules about midnight and stuff, you two know that already!” 

Jason shook his head in laughter. “Sometimes I wonder if he’s my fairy godfather or yours.”

* * *

The public ball was going great, and Piper was having a fun time mingling with people she hardly had time to see lately because of the workload. Jason took a break from the crowd, simply looking over at the festivities, until he saw a flash of dark skin and cinnamon hair.

It was the girl from the bazaar. His breath caught, not because of the girl, but because of the thought that the person who led her away was near here.

He moved towards her, but never seemed to reach the girl who was moving nimbly throughout the crowd. It became a sort of one sided chase, where Jason tried to keep her in his sights and catch to her as the girl moved casually through the crowd like a shining gem in a sea of grass. The natural glow she had around her made it easy to keep track where she was.

Unknowingly, he followed her into a corridor and a garden, until she slipped somewhere and the sight of her soft hair was lost to him. Similarly, Jason also felt lost, until the sun came out. Metaphorically.

* * *

So he escaped the humdrum ball for a while. So what? Nico wasn’t interested in any of these people, he’s known them for his whole life, you’d think if there was any attraction it’d be there already.

He saw Hazel slip in through a side door where she can bypass the guards, and started walking towards her when the thought of fresh air sounded more appealing. Instead of going straight towards Hazel, he turned and headed towards the gardens.

At first Nico thought that he was looking at a new garden statue, before the statue blinked at him and opened its mouth. He didn’t blame himself for mistaking the stranger for one of the masterpieces that were placed throughout the palace gardens. The stranger had a chiseled face and a noble expression. Sort of noble expression. Actually, he looked kind of lost. Although the stranger wasn’t saying anything yet, just staring at Nico.

“Excuse me? You don’t look like you’re on the guest list,” Although the stranger certainly looked handsome and well dressed enough that if it wasn’t for the fact that Nico knew every single person on the guest list he would’ve been fooled. 

“Um, please don’t call the guards. I- I just took a wrong turn and I’m kind of lost right now.” 

Snatches of music drifted across the garden, reminding Nico of his duty that evening. He could return to the ball and leave the handsome, foxy stranger to the guards, or he could refuse to do that.

“Dance with me and I won’t call the guards.” He took a step towards said handsome, foxy stranger.

“Uh-yes! I mean, yes, of course, please,” the poor guy looks so tongue tied, maybe Nico was being a bit mean. 

“Just joking around, you don’t have to dance if you don’t want to.”

“I want to! Please,” he looked as if he was wracking his brains for something to say, “please have this dance with me.”

The stranger grasped his arms lightly, and for a while the two of them simply stood there, holding each others arms in an increasingly embarrassing silence.

“So,” Nico cleared his throat. “Let’s dance.” 

They danced. The stranger was unsure of his steps at first, but soon the two of them were gliding through the gardens to the tunes from inside the castle. He was a lot taller than Nico, and looked even more perfect up close.

Nico wasn’t sure who started it, but soon the two of them were talking. Really talking. He was rambling on about imports and exports, and military capacities and diplomatic authorities, and usually this either led to political scheming or boredom from the people he talked to, but this stranger listened. The stranger with the face like a statue and an expression like a puppy listened with so much interest and earnestness like he felt that what Nico said was important. Like Nico mattered.

* * *

Jason was dreaming. That was it. There was no way the boy of his dreams was actually dancing with him. Not only that, but they were talking and listening and sharing and it was amazing and dreamlike and he’d pinch himself to make sure that this was real, but if this wasn’t then Jason wanted to make the dream last as long as it can.

The boy was obviously someone important, as shown by his expensive clothing that’s most certainly not magical, unlike Jason’s own. For once, he was glad about Piper’s insistence on having Leo magick clothes onto him, because he wouldn’t have fit in so seamlessly with the perfect boy in front of him otherwise.

This can’t last, Jason knew that. He’s just some servant, and a bastard son of the Duke at that. Regular bastards had their own rooms and stipends. He had a broom and a dishcloth.

“And that’s why I don’t think that we should necessarily start our own industry, but we should start making our lands more arable,” the boy said. 

“That’s long term thinking, right now maybe you should focus more on cutting a better deal on grains,” Jason replied. 

The boy smiled, and it was amazing, incredible, and all those excessive adjectives that Jason would never usually use.

If only Jason was someone who suited him.

He saw the boy’s eyes glance down at his lips, and the air between them suddenly shifted. It felt a lot warmer, and the world felt a lot further away. All he could focus on was how close the boy was to him, and how he’s leaning down and the boy’s leaning up, and-

The clock started to strike twelve.

Panic ripped through Jason. He couldn’t be seen in rags, not by this wonderful person who’s completely out of his league. Jason jerked away, and even though the boy reached out for him, started running. He didn’t even know where to go, but luck must’ve been on his side, because he ended up at the alley near the main street, where Piper was waiting.

The magic dissolved, and the night ended.  

 


End file.
